My almost smart phone...

[Externet]

Hello.
The text telephony service (or application?) I believe is called SMS in my plain Android phone sometimes shows a received message in its entirety, sometimes shows only a heading "New MMS message to download, expires in XX days" "Tap to download"

If you experience the same, can you explain why some are complete text and some are only that heading; how to make all received texts show the complete text, if there is a setting ? Or to block all those asking to download which I suspect are crap ?

I have not found such choice in any setting. Can you help ? Am not very bright.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

SMS is a small text only service, an MMS adds mixed media, such as photos - you usually just need to connect your phone to WiFi, or enable data on it, for it to download the extra content.

 

[canadaelk]

I hate it when my phone is smarter than me, so I can't help. You may not be very bright but you are smart enough to ask. A most admirable quality of character! E

 

[Externet]

Thanks, Nigel.
I have never used WiFi with my phone. It is always a telephony service provided voice + data and I get some of all the texts complete, some just the heading as explained. I do not have WiFi at home for any equipment, never had, never will if possible. And I would say I do not want to download **** from unknown sources.
Well, I just proved my dumbness. Wrongly read MMS as if it was SMS.

A sample image copied from the web to show the message heading am referring to, a different lettersoup :

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I do not understand either the perceived fever of using the phone with WiFi. I have unlimited everything wireless telephony company service for my wimpy $30/month.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Thanks, Nigel.
I have never used WiFi with my phone. It is always a telephony service provided voice + data and I get some of all the texts complete, some just the heading as explained. I do not have WiFi at home for any equipment, never had, never will if possible. And I would say I do not want to download **** from unknown sources.
Well, I just proved my dumbness. Wrongly read MMS as if it was SMS.

A sample image copied from the web to show the message heading am referring to, a different lettersoup :

======================================================================================

=====================================================================================

I do not understand either the perceived fever of using the phone with WiFi. I have unlimited everything wireless telephony company service for my wimpy $30/month.

I don't see your problem with WiFi?, but as long as you have data access on your phone (and you have data turned ON), then it presumably should download the MMS parts of the messages (usually pictures).

Presumably the ones you get complete are just text? - that part comes via SMS, so doesn't use data - the extra part requires working data on the phone. It's fairly common to turn data off, particularly if you have a PAYG phone (not a contract phone, like you) to save using all your credit - or just because you don't like the idea of the phone downloading stuff without you agreeing to it.

 

[For The Popcorn]

Messages from iPhones to Android, particularly messages sent to a group, come this way. It's a pain in the backside.

 

[Externet]

Thanks.
My suspicion is being another spam strategy. Sender area codes show being from all over the states, never a number I can recognize. Typically I delete 99 of 100 without downloading/opening. The complete ones are just text, correct, from known senders.
I do have data active; has never been off; can browse the internet if I need to without having to enable anything. Even Youtube and whatsapp work fine. Well, perhaps some day there will be an off-switch for MMS...

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Thanks.
My suspicion is being another spam strategy. Sender area codes show being from all over the states, never a number I can recognize. Typically I delete 99 of 100 without downloading/opening. The complete ones are just text, correct, from known senders.
I do have data active; has never been off; can browse the internet if I need to without having to enable anything. Even Youtube and whatsapp work fine. Well, perhaps some day there will be an off-switch for MMS...

Possibly you have something turned OFF? - but if you don't recognise the numbers, them keep it that way.

Presumably if your friends send you a picture via txt, then you don't see it?.